ride. >> sandra: did you have a good trip over the weekend? >> bill: i tell you what, this is really difficult. we have to go to monterey, pebble beach. >> sandra: tell me more after the show. >> bill: it's hard. but somebody's got to do it. the struggle is real. >> sandra: we tomorrow morning. "outnumbered" starts right now. >> melissa: fox news alert, we are awaiting a news conference with secretary of state mike pompeo. right now he is meeting with top u.s. military commanders at u.s. central command in tampa, florida. the meeting coming after the pentagon announced that it will send 1,000 more u.s. troops to the middle east amid rising tensions with iran. following last week's this suspected attack on oil tankers in the gulf of oman. the u.s. blames iran for the attacks and released new evidence supporting that conclusion. tehran denies any involvement, of course, and we will bring you any new developments in the secretary 's news conference live the second it happens.

and another fox news alert, lines stretching around amway center in orlando, florida, as president trump has prepared to kick off his reelection campaign with a rally tonight. florida is a crucial battleground for the trump campaign, and in many ways it reflects the diversity of the country as a whole. this is "outnumbered" and i'm melissa francis. here today, julie banderas. town hall editor and fox news contributor, katie pavlich. house of kennedy on the fox business network, kennedy herself. and joining us in the center seat, opening editor for "the washington times" and fox news contributor, charlie hurt, who did not dress up for us today. your sneakers really tell the whole tale. [laughter] >> charlie: well, you know, when you get old your back starts hurting. fashion, i don't care about fashion. >> melissa: you are fashionable! >> charlie: i'm all about comfort now. >> melissa: i love it, me, too too.

>> kennedy: any reports, grandpa? [laughs] >> charlie: you don't want me to start talking about that! >> melissa: lining up at orlando, more than 40 hours before the rally kicks off. the president treating but campaign has received more than 100,000 ticket requests for the arena, which holds 20,000 people. here are some of what we've heard from folks on the ground so far. >> i'm very excited to see trump. i'm excited to see what he has to say, what he's going to do in 2020. people were partying, there was trucks playing music. it was awesome. nonstop party, i loved it. >> we arrived, he rode over from panama city. >> trump supporter's are very unified. we love him and we love each other and we accept each other and we come from all walks of life. >> melissa: president trump to meeting this morning, "the fake news doesn't report it, but republican enthusiasm is at an all-time high for a look at what's going on in orlando, florida.

people have never seen anything like it unless you play a guitar. going to be wild, see you later!" his focus on florida is no big surprise. the last republican to win the white house without florida was -- this is like a trivia question -- president calvin coolidge in 1924. with its 29 electoral votes, florida is the biggest swing state prize. go, florida! charlie hurt, will you go down there and vote? reregister? >> charlie: that's not a bad idea. i think i'm pretty good at interpreting his tweets. what is the "unless you have a guitar?" >> katie: he saying, "i'm a rock star!" >> melissa: he really didn't get that? [laughter] >> charlie: i'm getting older. i didn't get it! granted, i'm not a rock star. i never have been. >> melissa: is he going to win florida? >> charlie: the time to look at the polls today sort of absurd. 2018, everybody was as wrong about florida as they were in

2016. i think that he is in a very, very good position to win. you can't buy that kind of enthusiasm. i get there is a lot of enthusiasm against trump around the country, but find me -- show me one democratic candidate. where is beto o'rourke now? show me one democratic candidate that can inspire that kind of enthusiasm. >> melissa: kennedy, was interesting to me is the last time around they said the president had no ground game, no infrastructure, new technology, these other different types of things. this time you hear behind-the-scenes about just the force that he has behind him, looking at, "where do we need to go and rally? where do you need to focus on people? where do we need to shore up support?" so he's got that deep political game guide him this time. >> kennedy: and florida is his obsession. he really has a single-minded lock on florida. that's where his chief pollster is from, that's where his campaign chair is from. and the state is so critically important to him because he

spends more time in florida than he does anywhere else other than the white house. it really is -- and the polling was essentially one point either way, and he won florida by 1.2 percentage points. so it was a tight race with hillary clinton and we will see what happens and who the democrats put up. i'm not entirely confident it's going to be joe biden at this point, but the president is running against himself in florida more than anywhere else. it's his personality versus his policy. >> katie: you have to keep in mind that these people showing up for the rally and the hundred thousand tickets that were requested, that's not just people who want to go and hang out with president trump. they are volunteering, they are willing to knock on doors, they are willing to talk to their neighbors and friends about why they should be trump supporter's, and that translates not just in florida but also in places like ohio and michigan. >> kennedy: is that different, though? melissa was right, hillary had a better ground game. she had a lot more money. have they shifted their strategy to more doorknocking?

>> katie: the benefit that trump has an ad in 2016 as they are reaching out to new voters. so obviously the base is shored up for him but his bases full of a bunch of new people who weren't there before. so they can go out and make the case that, "look, i was of democratic voters who voted for obama twice, i thought about voting for hillary clinton, but at the end of the day i voted for donald trump and this is the reason why. he has delivered on the things that i voted for him on in the first place." republicans have been criticized for not reaching out to the demographics they historically or recently haven't been able to gather, in terms of votes. trump has a way of getting people to at least consider changing their party affiliation and moving across the aisle. the numbers from the rnc and the trump campaign in terms of how many people are volunteering, it tells that story. >> melissa: yeah. you look at these crowds -- look at the picture you have on your screen right now, all these people showing up. i wonder, it's hard to imagine for past presidents, if they went out during their first term

to kind of have -- you know, what is essentially a pep rally. do you feel like you seen this before? >> julie: not in the state of florida. it's interesting, he mentioned -- and katie, you just brought it up -- that there's 100,000 people the requested tickets on there's only room for 20,000 in the arena. the only person trying to really hit up florida is joe biden. if you can compare them to any other candidate right now. joe biden is in getting these kinds of crowds. he's kind of running against the president instead of the primary, which we will talk about later. but the president has unprecedented support in the state of florida. the last time he was there in 2016 was for the think you rally. i think they want to come back and think him. >> melissa: i would point to the fox news poll's we were looking at yesterday and some of today showing him trailing all of the democratic candidates that are out there right now. but if you look back at this time, other gallup polls that his reelection campaigns, a june -- that happened in june, as it is now pre1983, walter

mondale. 49 to reagan's 39. we know how that turned out. >> kennedy: president mondale, bill was [laughter] >> melissa: president bush -- bob dole 48% to clinton 44%, that was in 1995. and in 2011, 44% to barack obama, 39%. this isn't an exhaustive list, it's just some that we pulled. what do you think? >> charlie: it's fun to pick through, but at the end of the day polls are meaningless this early out. i think the big question a lot of people have or had was that donald trump won as this outsider, marauding the gates of washington and going in to sort of turned the place upside down. now that he's president, he's not on the outside anymore. he is running less of a marauder's campaign. would he still be able to tap into that level of enthusiasm? you look at these images, i

don't see how you can say anything other than he still has that kind of enthusiasm. >> kennedy: i think any democrat in the field would love to have the visual of that many people waiting eight hours until the rally begins, all congregating by the thousands outside of the venue. >> julie: it reminds me of lollapalooza when i was in florida. less mudslinging, but nonetheless. and people have their tops on. >> kennedy: for now! [laughter] >> charlie: but you have to be a rock star to be at lollapalooza, right? >> julie: and i don't have a guitar. meantime, 2020 democratic front runner joe biden making a bold prediction yesterday that if he's the nominee he can win in florida as well as other southern states the republicans have carried in recent elections. listen. >> i plan on campaigning in the south. if i'm your nominee, winning georgia and north carolina, south carolina, believe it or not. i believe we can win texas and florida if you look at the polling data now. >> julie: charlie thought that

was a joke because he's laughing. his remarks in line with his apparent campaign strategy -- ignore other democrats and run against the president. but that plan is about to face a big test at the first dnc debate looming in just a few weeks. "the new york times" writing, "whether he can maintain that strategy is another question for the first debates will place mr. biden and the scenery arena with his rivals while providing them the chance to pressure him on his record of relatively moderate political stances." that's a good point. the debate is still about a week away. but for him to just run fully against the president and not against his democratic rivals, many of which are throwing daggers at him -- and he's not really fighting back, he's just going right after the president -- it's working so far in the polls but yet again we are about 500 a starting election and he hasn't even debated on the stage yet. >> charlie: it's certainly a smart strategy. i understand what he's doing it. but the part of the problem is that he's been part of the problem for 50 years. he's been around a long time. he has run for president a lot

of times and he's never been able to make it there, denomination, on his own. he is a gaffe machine. he has diarrhea of the mouth. he says all this crazy stuff. people look at him and say he's like donald trump because he says things no one expects him to say. >> julie: i was about to make that comment! >> charlie: the difference is joe biden often says things that are patently stupid, whereas i think donald trump says things that i probably may be a little more honest then you are supposed to say in politics. everything is supposed to be -- so i don't think trump is a gaffe machine the way -- >> julie: when he was vice president he definitely entertained us, that's for sure. he had a lot of interesting gaffes. but now that he's running as president, it makes it much difference. the eyes are all going to be on him. what do you make of the fact that he's pointing out all the southern states? how could that backfire, if he's directing all of his attention to the south? >> melissa: whenever -- he is obviously pursuing a different strategy than the other

democrats. in the end that is either genius or total folly. you only know by the outcome. one thing i think is interesting is that on one hand he is a gaffe machine and you say, "that doesn't really matter anymore because we sort of ripped the plastic off the president and we know that those are human beings, so it doesn't matter." but he is trying to run as all of our moral superior. so he says he stands in front of the troutdale video and he says , "let's return to civility and decorum." that's not who i think of him as being. he's the guy who says something inappropriate and gets away with it. so insisting he's trying to morph into for the campaign, but it's not who he genuinely is. that never works. >> melissa: do you think he's too moderate? the democratic party has gone quite to the left since obama was in office. >> kennedy: i think he's too moderate for the primary process and he's going to run into a lot of trouble in these debates because you are going to see people like pete buttigieg

completely out debate m he has warmed up and ready to go. i think bernie sanders was right to compare him to hillary clinton and her failed campaign. because hillary clinton made the mistake in 2008 and 2016 of running a coronation and just assuming that she was going to get the nomination, and barack obama and bernie sanders -- bernie almost got in her way completely if it weren't for the dnc machine. so joe biden has to be very careful about that. but he's not running against lincoln chafee, he's running against the crowded field of far left progressives who are very good at debating, they are very skilled, and they are ready to pounce on him. so i don't think the strategy can last. >> katie: has already caved on a number of things. how many times has joe biden changed his 40-year-long position to appease people in the primary process? the question is, is he a moderate? it's hard to tell now since he's changing his position. >> julie: you look at his record and a sister on the war and the abortion, there's some

history that leftists -- >> kennedy: criminal justice reform. he hasn't -- >> julie: may be about the debate. >> kennedy: he will be forced to. >> julie: it'll be interesting to put them to the test. fox news alert now, we are waiting for a news conference with secretary of state mike pompeo on history is good intentions with iran and the u.s. sending more troops to the region. we will bring it to you. the secretary's remarks live from satcom in tampa when it happens plus, the president announcing a major illegal immigration crackdown going to deport millions of illegal immigrants is one of his critics comparisons actions to nazi germany. whether his actions have gone too far, and the response from the men on the ground ahead. ♪ >> the fact that concentration camps are now institutionalized practice in the home of the free is extraordinarily disturbing. ♪ fact is, every insurance company hopes you drive safely.

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>> melissa: fox news alert, we are awaiting secretary of state mike pompeo following his meeting with top military officials at central command in tampa, florida. any minute now, secretary pompeo will take questions regarding the current situation with iran. this, as the pentagon prepares to send 1,000 additional troops to the middle east after attacks on two oil tankers in the region, which the u.s. claims on iran. that's the short you are looking at right now. we are waiting secretary of state pompeo and we will bring that she was soon as the news conference gets underway

>> kennedy: this is a fox news alert on the possible immigration crackdown. president trump announcing immigration authorities will remove millions of people in the country illegally. the president tweeting, "next week ice will begin the process of removing illegal aliens who illicitly found their way into the united states. they will be removed as fast as they come in. mexico using their strong immigration laws is doing a very good job of stopping people." that administration official telling a peak of a new effort on people who avoided final deportation orders paid all of this is the turf administration says it won't provide new assistance to the central american nations of el salvador, honduras, and guatemala until they do more to reduce the number of migrants coming to the u.s. meanwhile, new pressure on democrats in congress as senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says he plans to hold a vote on a bill to allocate four and a half billion dollars toward the humanitarian crisis at the border. it's a bill that progressive democrats have resisted, as you can imagine. meantime, democratic congressman

alexandria ocasio-cortez equating the administration's handling of the crisis too, you guessed it, nazi germany. watch. speak of the united states is running concentration camps on our southern border that is exactly what they are. the fact that concentration camps are now and institutionalized practice in the home of the free is extraordinarily disturbing. >> kennedy: a top official with the board or agency union says the congresswoman still has a lot to learn. really? >> it's disgusting to compare concentration camps to with the men and women are doing here protecting our country. i was just that one of the detention facilities. the kids were outside their sell, because we have so many of them, they were out on the floor playing puzzles. they were watching movies, eating cookies, and what have you. she needs to come down here.

>> kennedy: so, charlie, this is offensive as it trivializes what actually happened in concentration camps. it's a risk that many younger lawmakers are willing to take, and it just shows how shortsighted they are in terms of history and how they lose the argument the second that they compare the president to a murderous dictator. >> charlie: they lose the argument as soon as they open their mouths. not only is it shortsighted, but it also reveals -- ask yourself, has this woman ever read a page of history? did she ever take a single class of history? because making that comparison -- it's not only offensive to holocaust survivors and jews, it's offensive to humanity to make that comparison. all countries have borders, all countries are allowed to enforce their borders. all countries have immigration policies. to somehow suggest that it is

something like plucking jews out of their homes and loading them on train cars like cattle and gassing them to death is reckless and appalling. but on the other side of it, as someone who wants to see president trump succeed in this effort to fix the humanitarian crisis on the border, a kind of what to write a check to aoc. just keep talking. because you are really helping the presidents caused by opening your mouth. >> melissa: dana perino, her golden rule, never bring up the holocaust. >> kennedy: the first person who does that lose the argument. >> melissa: it's a nightmare. this was not a good idea on her part. beyond that, if you take a look at the numbers of illegal immigrants who have come into this country from honduras, most recent years, 2017, 11,147, nicaragua more than 3,000. it goes on throughout the countries that we are talking about now. it's not that we don't want and need these people in our country. it's that we need a way to do it safely and knowing he was

coming. we don't want to in sent people to risk their lives for economic reasons. i understand you want to come here for economic reasons. if you are truly in jeopardy, you're going to leave. if you're really under threat. but you want to come here for a better life like so many other people, we don't want to create a system where you have people agreeing to sell their children and agreeing to be raped to get here for better economic life. >> katie: if you look at the cost of what they are paying smugglers -- $15,000, $20,000 to get them to the united states -- if they would put that money and effort towards becoming an american citizen it would be less than the cost -- >> melissa: but there's no clear way to do that. >> kennedy: you are talking about some of the poorest people in our hemisphere, that's what's so sad. they are really being subjected to a horrific system. but there are three things happening here. you have other countries, including mexico, that aren't doing a lot to dissuade people

from just traveling through their country in order to get to the united states. you also have congressional inaction. i think that's the biggest problem. when you don't have systems in place to safely process people and you don't have more judges to humanely make sure that good people can come and stay at work, you create that log jam. which is a problem. i think alexandria ocasio-cortez has mischaracterized it. but then you also have the idea that ice is going to start rounding people up, and that could be the worst-case scenari scenario. >> julie: there is so much to say here. alexandria ocasio-cortez's comments are despicable. it makes me sick that she would compare hitler to the president. and that the democrats don't want to acknowledge the fact that what's happening right now in mexico is actually a step forward. the fact that mexico is sending troops to the southern border with honduras, that is a huge step. is it guatemala or honduras? i meant guatemala, sorry. the fact that they are actually

stepping up and the fact of the president had thrown and dangled tariffs at them, and they are going out and doing something about it, something is being done. would have the democrats doing right now? what is their reform, their immigration reform plan of action? at this point i haven't seen it. they're complaining about kids in cages. it's not quite like that. the fact that aoc hasn't even got to the border to seat with her own eyes -- >> melissa: you don't want to pick up that argument of what the conditions are like. because that shouldn't be how it is. >> julie: no, children should be locked up. >> kennedy: we have a fox news poll, people say the trump enforcement laws have gone too far. 24% say it hasn't gone far enough, some are goldilocks. very few of them say it's about right. that's a problem when you have this critical mass of people saying it's too much already, and the new show the ice round up on top of it. that can be problematic for the president. yes, it makes his base very happy, but you are not

necessarily appealing to the base. >> katie: the way the media has portrayed how the initiation is handling this issue has been grossly dishonest. aoc isn't only just making a horrible comparison, she is lying by saying there are concentration camps that are being run by federal agents on the border when they have given up their mission is border patrol agents to be on the border, to stop to stop cartels, some drugs, to stop people, to be literally taken care of 60,000 or 70,000 children in these detention centers, and they doing the best job they can. when it comes to the president and what he's doing with ice, saying, "we are going to have you go in and get people who already have deportation orders and are breaking the law because they came here illegally, they are being told to leave and they are not going," that is a legitimate function of ice and the federal government and the law. on top of asking mexico to do more as a whole approach to solving this problem. >> melissa: it's about the president during a million different things to try and get congress to act, and they keep falling for responding by

criticizing what he is doing as opposed to be doing anything himself. >> kennedy: do something. you are absolutely right. please do something. we can all see sub that somethg wrong is having. make it right, fix it. but they won't get off their hineys anytime soon. mike pompeo was set to meet with reporters at u.s. central command in tampa, florida. it's very much in the news toda. tensions with iran keep rising. u.s. officials think the focus for now is still deterrent. >> we don't want war. moved it will be can to deter this. they understand we will continue to take action to deter iran from engaging in this kind of behavior. ♪ termites.

we're on the move. hey rick, all good? oh yeah, we're good. we're good. terminix. defenders of home.

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the state department since the meeting was already planned. we expect it will focus heavily on iran. yesterday, they released new photos reporting to show irani and both removing in mind with one of two oil tankers attacked in the gulf of iran. tehran has denied responsibility. in the meantime, the pentagon announcing they will send an additional 1,000 troops to the middle east after receiving credible intelligence of hostile behavior by remaining forces. one republican congressman on the house armed services committee says the move is justified. >> these troops are being requested by the commander in the field. with the iranians are doing is lashing out. the sanctions are working. inflation is spiking, and iran. you have a series of labor spikes. >> melissa: foreign relations committee member senator bob menendez concurred,

this could lead to a wider conflict. he's urging the administration to take a more diplomatic approach. >> if all you do is build a pressure cooker with no release, that pressure cooker is going to blow. the administration should be robustly engaged in the most active efforts on diplomacy, particularly with our european allies who are still engaged with iran and in the field. >> melissa: katie, i've heard the presidency repeatedly he wants to sit down and talk with the iranians. it sounds like he is all in favor of diplomacy. >> katie: the release of the pressure cooker is iran stopping their funding of terrorism all over the world, especially in the middle east. the release of the pressure cooker is not bombing civilian targets in the gulf and putting tension between us and all of our allies in the middle east to secure the shipping lanes there. i keep hearing about our allies and how we need them. the europeans, if they continue to be wishy-washy on iran,

they've created a backdoor financial channel to them still be able to use 's current u.s. sanctions. where it matters right now, uae, saudi arabia, jordan, bahrain, iraq, those are the allies in the region and they are working with us on this issue. as they've done against united states for 40 years, they are engaging in violent behavior. this is not new to the trump administration. the democrats are trying to argue now that they are only acting out because the united states left of the iran deal. they were acting like this during the obama administration when we were also in the deal. so the pressure to cooker relee is for them to stop engaging in violent activity around the world and the middle east, against american interests. >> melissa: charlie, all i would add to that is it's not just against the u.s. but against all of our allies in the middle east. whether it's israel, saudi arabia. i mean, that's it -- there is violence all over the place that has been activated by the iranians. >> charlie: on the

for this thing you can be from being an interventionist, but being -- guarding the traffic lanes for shipping is not an interventionist strategy. you don't have to have written "the art of the deal" to know that the point of a pressure cooker is to increase pressure. as you said, katie, the safety valves, it's for iran to change its behavior. the only way that is going to happen is by applying that pressure. or you may as well not have a pressure cooker. >> melissa: kennedy, what do you think? there are those that say it feels he's marching us toward war and marching the u.s. toward war. there are others that say this kind of strong aggressive behavior actually pushes war further off. what do you think? >> kennedy: i think mike pompeo and john bolton are jumping around like a couple of 11-year-olds at a sleepover. they're having pillow fights and tickle parties because they are ecstatic at the thought of an

increased military presence near iran. that's very unfortunate, because the problem isn't directly challenging iran with some of their misbehavior. the problem is getting into another afghanistan and another protracted military campaign -- >> melissa: why do you think that's what this is? >> kennedy: because that's what we've seen. we haven't seen the opposite and we haven't seen any administration be able to do something surgically and short term and then get us out of there with better results. we are still in afghanistan. it's 2019. it's been quite some time. there are people like charlie on the republican side who are very hesitant to use any military options -- >> melissa: let's listen to the man himself. secretary of state mike pompeo at centcom now. >> secretary pompeo: thank you for joining me here today. i had a good evening and a really good morning. spent time getting briefed by the generals at centcom, general clark and his team. the purpose of my visit was to

come down here and make sure that the state department and department of defense were deeply coordinated across a whole broad range of issues. we have discussed the ongoing tension in the gulf, but we talked about a much broader range of issues. if we are to deliver at the state department on the presidents diplomatic objectives, we have to be tightly-woven with our military, and i appreciate general mckenzie, general clark, and their teams and spending time with me and my team today to make sure we were doing just that. we had extensive conversations about tactical operational and strategic levels of work between our two organizations to make sure that when we present options, alternatives, policy recommendations to president trump, we are doing so in a way that is coherent and consistent and it leaves the president to a fuller understanding of the challenges and opportunities connected to decisions that he makes. we certainly, as i said, spoke about the challenges and iran. we talked about centcom's

decision that secretary shanahan at the president approved, to move 1,000 more americans into theater to make sure that we are in the position to do the right thing. which is to continue to work to convince the islamic government of iran that we are serious and deter them from further aggression in the region. it's been our mission since the beginning of this administration to convince the iranian regime not to move forward with their nuclear program and not to continue to engage in a developing missiles and all the other maligned activities they have been engaged in around the world. that's all you put into place the pressure campaign that has now been ongoing for a year and a couple months. it's been very effective, and now we need to make sure we continue to do that so we get the opportunity to convince iran that it's not in their best interest to behave in this way. we all have to remember, this isn't just two and a half years or five years, this is 40 years

of irani and activity that led us to this point. to reestablish deterrence is a challenge but one that i know the trump administration is up to. we are working hard each and every day, both in the state department and the department of defense and all the elements of the united states government to achieve that. with that, i'm happy to take a couple questions. yes, ma'am? >> reporter: either directly through third-party, to get iran to defuse the situation in the persian gulf? >> secretary pompeo: almost weekly. president trump sent president able to take a message of his to the leadership in iran. you have to remember, these are messages for the leadership. i think there are many people are being willfully missed served by that leadership. but we are being engaged -- we have been engaged in many messages, even this moment right here. communicating to iran that we are there to deter aggression. president trump does not want war, and we will continue to communicate that message while doing the things that are

necessary to protect american interests in the region. >> reporter: mr. secretary, for additional proof of the attack on the tickers, you said sunday that you are going to provide that. when are we expected to see that? >> secretary pompeo: we will continue to provide additional information about those attacks, but we shouldn't focus on just those two attacks. since the beginning of may there are no over half a dozen different incidents of remaining attacks in the region. some thwarted, some not successfully thwarted. that they had an impact. i saw just as i walked in here, chancellor merkel said she thought there was strong evidence that iran had engaged in this activity. we will continue to work with partners all around the world. it's worth reminding everyone here, you have china that depends enormously on energy transiting the >> charlie: to . china, korea, japan all of an enormous interest in this

waterway. the united states is prepared to do its part, but every nation has a deep interest in protecting that shipping lane so that energy can move around the world and support their economies. they need to make sure they understand the real threat, the threat to their interest in the region and the threat to their economies if we are not successful in doing that. >> reporter: it obviously falls within the operating theater of u.s. special operations and central command. what do you say to the families of the men and women who work within those commands about how they should prepare themselves for what may come over the next year or two? >> secretary pompeo: the first thing i would do is say thank you to them for their service to the nation. i know many of these young men and women, they are talented, capable, aggressive, they have put us in the place where we have this opportunity to deter iran. what i would say to them is what i say to everyone who is engaged in this kind of service. america is deeply appreciative. we are providing them with the resources they need to be successful, to continue to

engage in the activities in a way that will deliver good outcomes, and to thank them for their willingness to take this ultimate risk that every service member faces. i remind my diplomats all around the world, they too faced threats to themselves and their families. when i get a chance to talk to those diplomats i tell them the same thing i would like to share with the families here at centcom. i thank them for their amazing professionalism, their work, and willingness to serve america at these challenging times. >> reporter: mr. secretary, he said many times that the u.s. is not speaking with iran. but president trump said this week that he would consider going. is that something we discussed here today at centcom, and can re-give us more details? you said on sunday military -- can you give us any more details about this? >> secretary pompeo: one of the purposes of my visit today was to make sure we are cornere

cornered. achieving the strategic outcomes the president has sent forth falls on all of us but the state department has the first or in the water on that. but we can't do that without making sure we have the capability to respond if iran makes a bad decision. if he makes a decision to go after an american, or an american interest, or to continue to proliferate its nuclear weapons program. so we talked about a broad range of issues here today. across all of that spectrum. i know that the soldiers, sailors, and airmen inside of centcom are ready to respond to any threat that iran presents. to make sure we are in sync and prepare the options for the united states. >> reporter: mr. secretary, what's the advantage of coming here to tampa to talk with generals rather than talking with generals at the pentagon? should your trip here be a message to iran? >> secretary pompeo: i talk with them all the time, too. these are not mutually exclusive

options. but it was important to get to the headquarters were a lot of this work is doing. to make sure we don't have to send a lot of folks up to meet me in washington. i got a chance to meet with only those two leaders come up with their teams. they got a chance to hear of the state department is thinking about this problem and how we are delivering deterrence in the region and reinforce with them the strategic objectives of the united states of america. it was important and valuable for me to get here so i could talk to a broader range of leaders. here, at a more granular level, all the great work they've been engaged in. i will take one more. >> reporter: you have anything to say about that? >> secretary pompeo: i don't have anything to add to that. i will say only this. it's the case in may that we had over 140,000 illegal immigrants enter this nation unlawfully. it is an important undertaking to ensure that we have sovereignty and security at our southern border. every action this administration is taking is designed to do just that. president trump has been

unambiguous, very clear. i have worked personally on an arrangement with mexico. now a week and a few days ago. i am confident that we will get this under control and it is important for american national security that we do in fact achieve this. thank you all. >> melissa: okay, that was secretary of state mike pompeo at centcom in florida. he was talking about, among other things, the additional troops heading to the middle east as a result of rising tensions with iran, saying that the goal now is to reestablish deterrence with respect to iran. that this is not about the past two years or five years but about the past 40 years. let's bring in national security correspond at jennifer griffin, live at the pentagon. jennifer, what did you hear? >> melissa, what i heard, what you heard him say, in terms of reestablishing deterrence, it's very clear that for the secretary of state to go down to the u.s. central command -- remember, he did not travel down

there with the acting defense secretary. he went down with his team and the political advisor here at the pentagon. the person in charge of policy. they want to make sure that any military movements are in sync with the diplomatic movements. the state department at the pentagon has said many times, he is in the lead here. it's important to point out that he mentions that angela merkel, the german leader, has now mentioned that she thinks the evidence is significant that iran was involved. remember, the germans have been questioning that intelligence in recent days and had not been as forthright as the british in terms of suggesting that there was enough evidence to blame iran for those tanker attacks. yesterday the pentagon presented a few more of this imagery from centcom and the u.s. navy helicopters taken of the iranians circling around the boat and removing what they said was a mine from one of the boats that had been unexploded. but it's important to point out

that none of those pictures, those 11 images that were released yesterday, actually showed the iranians facing those placing in those mayan employer less. if they are siding with the u.s. and british no against iran. it's clear that secretary of state mike pompeo went down there to coordinate the messaging. the 1,000 u.s. troops being sent to the region, we've been reporting this morning, are all support troops. they are not infantry or special operations force. they are not combat forces. they are support forces who will be operating defensive systems. so it's very clear that the pentagon and the white house do not want to escalate this militarily. they are already having 70,000 troops, and plenty of armaments to deter iran. the diplomacy is where this conflict is headed, and you are the iranians say that until juls the deadline for the u.s. to

lift sanctions. so you expect for tension to rise up until july 7th. >> melissa: i want to ask you a couple things about what you just said before we run out of time. number one, why is it clear to you that they don't want to escalate, that the u.s. doesn't? because their people on both sides of the aisle who think that's what this look like. >> a thousand troops is really not that very many trips when he talked about the u.s. military. it's not a surge into the region. they are not infantry or combat troops, they are not a brigade moving in to the region. if they wanted to escalate militarily they would be escorting ships with u.s. navy destroyers, they would be sending more aircraft carriers. it's very clear from the announcement yesterday that this was a very calibrated military response. >> melissa: jennifer, thank you so much. terrific reporting and breaking that on for us so we can understand it better. we appreciate it. we will bring you back and talk more in depth about it right after this break. don't go away. wow!

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>> one of the purposes of my visit today was to make sure we are coordinated, the responsibility for diplomacy achieving the strategic outcomes the president has set forth, falls on all of us. but the state government has the first oar in the water on that. we can't do it without making sure we have the capability to respond if iran makes a bad decision. if it makes a decision to go

after an american or an american interest. >> kennedy: the secretary of state moments ago talking about strategy with iran that appears to be more diplomatic than defense-based right now. what did you make that? >> charlie: your comment before the break is very important. obviously, washington has a bad reputation for doing things surgically and diplomatically without getting into a full-blown war. it's why donald trump won election in the first place. i do think there is a huge distance between protecting american interests, in terms of shipping lanes and war. i'm certainly hopeful that we don't get into any international tickle fights. >> kennedy: [laughs] we don't want to go fives! but we want success. what does that look like hear? >> katie: well, iran not bombing oil tankers that are doing their job and moving through the gulf or other areas of the middle east. he also said to blue medic objectives have to be woven with the military.

making sure that we are on the same page diplomatically and militarily, if they strike somewhere else, and american interest, what is the response? will it be diplomatic or military? just because you are responding with military doesn't mean that you are going into a war. you're simply protecting their interests. >> julie: i don't think the present was a war. he is showing strength in numbers and that's what it is. a thousand troops, like jennifer griffin said, it's not enough to start a war. what i do believe is now he needs to fight. the sanctions, also the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, still does not want to admit that iran was actually behind attacking one of the tankers that have japanese sailors on it. they can literally stop buying oil from iran. show them who's boss. stop giving the money. you buy the oil elsewhere. that's what this is all going to come down to. that kind of pressure, i believe, will send iran a strong message. but the only type of message they listen to obviously has to be in strength. >> kennedy: very good.

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>> kennedy: thanks so much to charlie hurt for being the man in the middle. >> charlie: i will have to go shoe shopping. >> julie: i would hope so. >> kennedy: it's mid-to-late june after all. we are back noon eastern tomorrow. here's melissa in for harris. >> melissa: fox news alert, secretary of state mike pompeo with a warning for iran after meeting with u.s. military commanders at central command. let's go "outnumbered overtime." i'm melissa francis in today for harris faulkner. secretary pompeo briefing reporters moments ago at centcom in tampa, florida, saying he discussed the ongoing tensions in the gulf with military commanders and that the u.s. military is prepared to respond to any further hostilities in the region. following last week's tanker attacks near the strait of hormuz. >> one of the purposes of my visit today was to make sure we record needed. the responsibility for